Production and Technical Credits

There was a strong contingent of new releases this week, but it was a holdover that took top spot. Ghost Rider fell nearly 25%, but its weekly haul of $6.67 million was still enough to remain in first place while its two week total hit $15.53 million.
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Ghost Rider led this week's contingent of new releases capturing first place with $8.86 million. That wasn't a whole lot compared it its theatrical run, but it was a better one week total that the home market has been able to produce for a while.
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The Summer is traditionally the weakest time of the year for DVD releases and this is not surprising as the target audience is too busy checking out the latest theatrical releases to be bothered with the home market.
First-run releases are also weak because the delay from theater to home means we are not getting prime offerings here.
TV on DVD releases are likewise weak because it is too late to take advantage of season finales and too soon to take advantage of season premieres.
So, to find the best offering, one has to look to limited releases like Grbavica - Buy from Amazon, or TV movies like Masters of Horror - The Screwfly Solution.
But the DVD Pick of the Week goes to a classic, The Hustler - Two-Disc Collector's EditionMore...

Practically every new release missed expectations this weekend, some by small margins while others were significantly off the mark. On the other hand, holdovers held as well as expected, which helped the box office total reach $117 million.
This was a 25% drop-off from last weekend; however, that can be explained by the holiday last weekend and the Oscars this weekend.
Year-to-year the drop-off was a much more reasonable 3%.
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It was a record-breaking President's Day weekend as 2007 produced it first blockbuster.
Overall, total box office hit $158 million from Friday to Sunday, $188 million including Monday.
That 3-day figure represents a 40% increase over last week and 22% over the same weekend last year.
In addition, the 4-day portion was 20% higher than last year.
This is great news for a year that hasn't gotten off to a fast start.
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It's President's Day today and that can only mean one thing, millions of Americans are celebrating by cutting down cherry trees and lying about it. I think. Truth be told, I'm not exactly sure what people do to celebrate President's Day. But I do know it will cause a slight delay in a couple of weekly columns. For instance, the weekend wrap-up and the per theatre charts will both be pushed back one day while the DVD Release column will be a bit late. It might still be published late today, but it might not come out till sometime after midnight. In the meantime, here are the studio estimates for the weekend numbers...
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Now that romance is out of the way, we have a big-budget action flick looking to take advantage of Presidents' Day long weekend to score the biggest opening of the year so far.
But Ghost Rider isn't the only new release this weekend; along with the two romantic comedies that opened on Wednesday, there are three films opening wide, or at least wide-ish, this Friday.
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It's Valentine's Day, which can only mean one thing: Romance is in the air. Millions of happy couples will be heading out on romantic dates, candle-lit dinners, slow dancing, walks on the beach, all the time hoping that their spouses don't find out. Okay, I admit my opinion on Valentine's Day is rather low, but I promise that's the last I'll make crack. (Although I will recommend a couple anti-lovesongs for those not in the mood. And chocolate. I recommend lots of chocolate.) This year the movie industry is giving two romantic comedies for those in love, while the rest of us will have to wait till Friday for an action flick to wash the palate of sticky romance.
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February is the shortest month of the year, but not the slowest at the box office. It doesn't have the stigma of being a dumping ground, and with Valentine's Day fitting nicely in the middle, romantic comedies have a leg up at the box office. However, for the most part, movies released during this month are aiming for midlevel hit and there are few, if any, that will become blockbusters.
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A slow week, but that's not surprising. The movie industry is seasonal with peaks and valleys throughout the year. With movie websites, there tends to be the same peaks and valleys, just a few months earlier. (The same is true for DVDs, just a few months later.) While there are a few sites on this week's list that show promise, there are none that are really award-worthy.
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The end of year big movie rush continues, the last few big movies are launching their sites. And one such movie, Night at the Museum - Official Site, is the winning of the Weekly Website Award.
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